MOBILE, Alabama – Cirque du Soleil’s “Quidam” might create a magical world within the USA Mitchell Center, but that doesn’t mean the magic comes easy. As a look at Wednesday afternoon rehearsals revealed, this illusion depends more on hard work and tight scheduling than on pixie dust and wishful thinking.

“Quidam” opened Wednesday evening and will present shows through Sunday. Cirque du Soleil promotional materials describe it as the story of a young girl, Zoe, who has become disenchanted with life. “Seeking to fill the void of her existence, she slides into an imaginary world – the world of Quidam – where she meets characters who encourage her to free her soul.”

That world is populated by an international cast of about fifty performers whose specialties include elite variations on acrobatics, aerial contortion, trapeze work, balancing and juggling. They’re an exotic bunch: Show publicist Jessica Leboeuf said they hail from 19 different countries.

The logistics, on the other hand, aren’t exotic – they’re just intense. LeBoeuf said that on Sunday, the cast and crew wrapped up a run of shows in New Orleans and headed to Mobile. Monday was an off day, a chance to “explore the city, get some local food, sleep in,” she said.

Cirque du Soleil will present “Quidam” March 20-24 at the University of South Alabama Mitchell Center.

Tickets are available through Ticketmaster. Prices range from $30 to $95 for adults; from $24 to $77 for children 12 and younger; and from $27 to $81 for military personnel, seniors and students. Additional fees apply. For more more information, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com.

On Tuesday the crew, along with more than 80 local workers, spent the day unloading trucks and setting up the stage and other equipment. Leboeuf said it takes about nine and a half hours to be “show-ready.”

But even though the stage is the same, and the cast performs six to nine shows every week while on the road, every venue requires some adaptation. At the Mitchell Center, the biggest issue is headroom. Few of the people who visit the venue for concerts, basketball games or graduation ceremonies would describe it as having a low ceiling, but it’s all relative.

“Quidam’s” stage features a sweeping arch that extends forward from the back of the stage. It’s a complex affair: It has several tracks, and each track has two moving platforms used as attachment points for the ropes used by the show’s aerial acts. In the Mitchell Center, it’s tight up against the scoreboard that hangs in the center of the hall. It’s not quite as high off the floor as usual, and that’s something the acts have to take into account.

“All the aerial artists have to re-find their point of reference,” said Leboeuf.

During the rehearsals, a solo performer spent time performing a routine called “aerial contortion in silk.” As she twisted and turned in the air, the only thing between her and the floor was her grip on two long strips of fabric. At times she would slide rapidly down them, before ascending again. When she finally finished and came down, she could be heard to say, “It’s low, but It’s okay.” The average onlooker, picturing himself in the performer’s position, probably would think it was neither.

The next act to come out was the Spanish Web troupe, which featured five performers working on thick ropes hanging from the arch. Lebouef, from time to time, checked a clipboard. Every session was plotted down to the minute. The rehearsals were to be done by 5 p.m., at which point the show’s live band would come out and adjust its sound to the acoustics of the room.

Even the non-aerial acts had to warm up and adjust. As more than a dozen people came out for rope-skipping routines, Leboeuf explained that because one regular performer could not participate, other members of the act were having to pick up parts of that person’s role. This took some work, given the complexity of the routines. The group spent time on one that required performers to dance through a circular formation in which six different sections of rope were whirling.